What is Your Legacy?
What is Your Legacy? Thoughts on Preserving Your Values and
Life Experiences for Others by Mary Gutheil Anderson
What if I told you I had a secret that would help you to live a
longer, richer and more fulfilled life? I do. Create a Legacy
Will now. What is a Legacy Will? A Legacy Will is a document
that is created by you in addition to your Last Will &
Testament. It is not a legally binding paper. It is a letter or
note that is created for your loved ones to transmit values,
life lessons, family history and other experiences to those left
behind when the author dies. The process is as simple as writing
a love letter to the people closest to you--from your family to
your friends, colleagues, teachers, mentors and heroes. In a
recent issue of AARP magazine, there was an article discussing
the growing power and numbers of the aging baby boom generation.
This group of Americans has experienced more wealth and
prosperity than their parent's could have ever dreamt would be
available. This group of people (between the ages of 40-60 years
old) is both challenged by being in the peak of their careers,
in the process of raising their own families and often caring
for their parents and grandparents unique elder care needs as
well. It's an important time to look at your personal legacy as
well as a financial plan for your surviving loved ones. My
interest in creating a Legacy Will came out of my own startling
experience during the summer of 2002. A little history first: I
grew up in Los Altos when it was mainly an enormous apricot
orchard, in the late 50's, and I spent my childhood summers
cutting apricots to dry on huge pieces of plywood. Believe it or
not, Foothill Expressway was a railroad track and my Dad walked
up El Monte Avenue every morning to take the train to Palo Alto
to work at Lockheed! So enough reminiscing about me but I have
stories that are so rich and full of fun that I love to share
them. These stories are part of my Legacy Will. My entire family
grew up, studied, married and raised their families within a
mile of my parent's home in Los Altos. During the summer of
2002, I was sadly met with the unexpected death of three family
members including my parent's and my brother. In addition, my
21-year-old son, Taylor, spent one month in El Camino Hospital
at death's door with complications from a burst appendix. He
survived but I was suddenly in a position of being executor and
trustee of both of my parent's estate and my brother's estate
and law practice. I quickly learned about the grief and shock
that the death of a loved one imparts on the remaining family
members. Not only are you overwhelmed with sadness, in addition,
there many financial, legal, personal and medical decisions and
processes that must occur immediately following a death.
Locating important papers, planning a funeral program, mortuary
arrangements, reception plans and more must be organized. The
way I have described it to others it is like planning a wedding
for 500 with about two days notice and you're depressed on top
it! Challenging at best! It was after this difficult summer that
I became interested in expanding my consulting business to
include services to support, inspire and encourage others to
evaluate and describe the more meaningful moments in their
lives. By creating a Legacy Will and ultimately passing on your
values, experiences, memories, joys and hardships to L I F E M A
N A G E M E N T C O N S U L T I N G P. O. BOX 3776 LOS ALTOS,
CALIFORNIA 94024 TEL~ 650.960.3772 FAX~ 650.960.3773
WWW.LIFEMANAGEMENTCONSULTING.COM